LOS ANGELES (AP) — The turmoil in Michael Jackson's family landed in court Wednesday after a request was filed for temporary guardianship of the singer's three young children.
Margaret Lodise, the guardian ad litem for the children, said the petition seeks to appoint Tito Jackson's son TJ as a temporary guardian.
The ongoing hearing came after days of bickering between factions of Jackson's family that included a driveway confrontation that remains under investigation and lingering questions about the well-being of Jackson family matriarch Katherine.
She was found safe over the weekend with daughter Rebbie and other relatives in Arizona, after going more than a week without talking to her grandchildren — Prince, Paris and Blanket.
Katherine Jackson's attorney, Perry Sanders Jr., said his client later spoke with her grandchildren but only after Sanders met with Janet and Jermaine Jackson about their mother in Tucson, Ariz.
Sanders and Lodise were among several attorneys in court Wednesday to try to bring order to the situation. Also present was TJ Jackson, who is being asked to step in as a temporary guardian for times when Katherine Jackson is unavailable.
A court appointed Katherine Jackson as guardian of her son Michael's children within days of the pop superstar's unexpected death in June 2009 at age 50.
In recent days, they have remained at the home they share with their grandmother in Calabasas.
The house was the scene of a family disturbance Monday that sheriff's deputies continue to investigate. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore has said two men were involved in an altercation at the home and that there is an active battery investigation.
